A healthcare project in Patrick County is set to receive significant federal funding as part of the U.S. Senate’s Fiscal Year 2025 draft funding bills, according to a release from U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine. The two successfully secured $772,000 for Martinsville Henry County Coalition for Health and Wellness to expand access to medical, dental, and behavioral health services in Patrick County.
As part of the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations process, members of Congress worked with their constituents to request funding for local community projects, otherwise known as earmarks, in a manner that promotes transparency and accountability. The senators worked to secure more than $125 million for community projects across the Commonwealth in the 11 bills released by the Senate so far. In addition to battling for these priorities, the two vow to work to ensure funds obtained by Virginia House members also remain in the final spending bills.
So far, 11 of 12 appropriations bills have been passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee on a broad bipartisan basis. Senate appropriators continue to work to negotiate the 12th and final bill, which would provide funding for homeland security priorities.
Many other provisions championed by Warner and Kaine also were included in the 11 government funding bills. Among them:
*Boosting Local Economies: Includes $200 million for the Appalachian Regional Commission and $21 million for the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission to support their work to build economic partnerships, create opportunity, and foster economic development.
*Fighting the Flow of Fentanyl: Includes $1.4 billion to strengthen law enforcement cooperation between governments and to counter drug trafficking. This includes $170 million – $45 million more than fiscal year 2024 – to support efforts to stop global flows of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs, as well as their precursor materials, including through the implementation of the FENTANYL Results Act. Sen. Kaine also secured $88 million for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, which fosters joint government efforts on counternarcotics, migration, and law enforcement. Sen. Kaine recently traveled to Brownsville and McAllen, Texas to discuss fentanyl interdiction at the southern border with various law enforcement agencies and international partners from Mexico. Last year, significant portions of Sen. Kaine’s bipartisan Disrupt Fentanyl Trafficking Act were signed into law to direct increased federal attention to fentanyl trafficking and strengthen U.S.-Mexico cooperation on drug trafficking. The senators also helped pass a supplemental national security funding package that included the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, bipartisan legislation cosponsored by Sens. Warner and Kaine, to strengthen the Treasury Department’s ability to sanction transnational criminal organizations and others that launder money to facilitate opioid trafficking.
*Implementing the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022: Includes $11.2 billion to implement the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, championed by Sens. Warner and Kaine. Funding will allow the U.S. to keep pace with China and other competitors in scientific fields that power the economy, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, microelectronics, clean energy, and advanced communications. Sen. Warner first introduced the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act in June 2020 along with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).
*Supporting Our National Parks: Includes $2.99 billion for the operation of the National Park System, an increase of more than $100 million from Fiscal Year 2024.
